A writer and cartoonist who spent most of his career contributing to MAD, Cracked, and National Lampoon, Anthony Rubino here applies his somewhat sober and mature reasoning to assess 100 simple inventions that have nonetheless had an enormous impact on our society. From Barbed Wire ("A really pointy fence") to Cabbage Patch Kids ("Creepy dolls with birth certificates"), from Lightning Rods ("Ben Franklin is the man) to Plastic Milk Crates ("Furniture for college students"), here are Rubino's puckish takes on the items we could scarcely do without, complete with bar bet–worthy trivia—like the fact that Necco makes 750 million candy dots every year.